Two Newark residents indicted in Parsippany and Springfield bank robberies

The scene at the Santander Bank on Littleton Road in Parsippany after the robbery on Dec. 23.Megan Shapiro Hodgin/ NJ.com

MORRISTOWN — Two Newark residents were indicted by a Morris County grand jury today on charges they robbed banks in Parsippany and Springfield in December after threatening to use a bomb.

The alleged robberies took place Dec. 18 at the Investors Savings Bank at Morris and Linden avenues in Springfield and on Dec. 23 at the Santander Bank on Littleton Road in Parsippany.

Authorities said Avery Spotswood, 43, handed a note to the teller saying he had a bomb during both incidents. Quiama Harris, 29, was accused of driving the getaway car in the Parsippany incident and her car was also seen nearby in the Springfield robbery, authorities said.

Spotswood and Harris were both indicted on two counts of robbery and two counts of conspiracy to commit robbery. Spotswood was also charged with two counts of terroristic threats.

After Parsippany police notified other law enforcement agencies on Dec. 23, police learned of a similar incident in Springfield in which a vehicle registered to Harris was seen nearby, according to acting Morris County Prosecutor Fredric Knapp. The pair were charged with the Springfield robbery several days after they were charged in the Parsippany incident.

Harris had helped Spotswood in Parsippany by conducting a surveillance of the bank, entering the bank before the robbery and asking various banking questions, Knapp said. Spotswood fled with an undetermined amount of cash, according to Knapp.